Change CountryAbout Us Smart grid
The smart grid works, but only if smart buildings are connected to it. The time to do so is now.
The grid – the infrastructure that delivers electricity from power generating plants to buildings – is over-taxed. Because of increasing demand during peak time periods and the varying output of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, the grid is less able to provide a stable energy supply.
However, by linking all supply and demand elements through intelligent two-way communication, the grid could constantly monitor demand and adjust delivery accordingly. That's the idea behind the "smart grid."
For example, by interfacing with home appliances or building controls, the smart grid could allow those energy-consuming devices to operate in off-peak periods and disable them during peak periods to save energy, reduce strain on the grid and enable users to consume electricity when it is least expensive.
To deliver all the benefits the smart grid has to offer requires that smart buildings be connected to it.
A smart building provides some or all of the following advanced capabilities:
However, by linking all supply and demand elements through intelligent two-way communication, the grid could constantly monitor demand and adjust delivery accordingly. That's the idea behind the "smart grid."
For example, by interfacing with home appliances or building controls, the smart grid could allow those energy-consuming devices to operate in off-peak periods and disable them during peak periods to save energy, reduce strain on the grid and enable users to consume electricity when it is least expensive.
To deliver all the benefits the smart grid has to offer requires that smart buildings be connected to it.
A smart building provides some or all of the following advanced capabilities:
- Optimized coordination of energy loads, on-site energy generation and energy storage
- Fully integrated control of lighting, heating, cooling, ventilation, IT, and other energy consuming systems, using weather data and information from security, scheduling and other business systems to optimize performance
- Advanced diagnostics and automated measurement, verification and reporting of energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings
- Continuous two-way communication between the building and the grid
- Automatic demand response to dynamic pricing signals from the grid
This is known as "demand response."
Smart building management systems can automate a short-term reduction in energy demand through load shedding or load shifting. For example, if the owner sets an electricity price threshold for the building and the grid signals that the price will exceed that threshold at a particular time of the day, the system would automatically reduce energy demand in the building at that time. The system could turn off non-critical loads, reduce lighting levels, let building temperatures float within limits or start the use of stored or on-site energy generation.
Combining smart grid and smart building technologies improves reliability and security, while reducing energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
Johnson Controls has been providing smart building technologies to customers for years and those customers are reaping the benefits.
Commercial buildings in the U.S. now consume 18 percent of the country's energy and 36 percent of the electricity. In a recent Energy Efficiency Indicator study, 44 percent of facility executives in the U.S. selected smart building technology as one of the top three technologies expected to have the greatest price-performance improvement over the next 10 years.
The time to deploy smart building technologies is now. Doing so could avoid $33 billion in energy costs and eliminate 160 million tons of carbon emissions annually by the year 2030.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Visit "A Day in the Life of a Smart Building" to learn how smart buildings operate. more
ENERGY EFFICIENCY INDICATOR
Facility executives gave high marks to smart building technology in our latest study. more
MAKE YOUR BUILDINGS WORK
Explore our Web site to learn more about how Johnson Controls can help you enable your building to operate more efficiently, save energy costs, reduce carbon emissions, all while providing quality, productive, sustainable environments. more
INSTITUTE FOR BUILDING EFFICIENCY
The Institute for Building Efficiency is a new initiative of Johnson Controls providing information and analysis of technologies, policies, and practices for efficient, high performance buildings and smart energy systems around the world. more
